19 December 2016

Good Day,

I remembered that France's archives for 100th Department, the one I used to find the documentation regarding our July family may be up online. The 100th Department is d'Outre-Mer. I thought that if I was able to use it for French Guiana why could I not use it for Martinique. And sure enough, I was able to find the links to the Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer -

A couple of things about using this site and most important it does not work with Google. It does work with Firefox.

Here is the link to the first part of the Birth Registration of Great-Grandmother Catherine Marie Antoinette July, 4 January 1861 in the Goree, Senegal Registration books -

Hoping we will be able to find something similar in Martinique for GGG-Grandmother Marie Ann Doret. Who knows?

I have begun searching through the documents and registration as available on line. It will be an arduous search as I will have to go town by town.

This Archive may also help in tracing my grandson's mother's portion of their family line of Parisé to the Quebec and the Gaspe Peninsula circa 1697.

The Outre-Mer Department encompasses all those lands and countries that did and still do fall under the auspices of the French Empire.

And if you know of anyone else in the family who may be interested in receiving my updates regarding the search please let me know their email mail so I can include them. Who knows, more than my two eyes and my one aging brain definitely may help with this continued search.

16 December 2016

Good Day:

I, (Thank you Steve and Peter), have been jolted back into the realm of my/our genealogy looking for any idea or thought that may lead me/us to find the origins of my/our GGG-grandparents James and Mary Ann (née Doret) Smith.

On the 27th of February 1818, GGG-Grandfather James Smith appears to have purchased a lot/parcel of land in the Town of St. George, Grenada. This property cost at the time £165, in current funds. (In today’s US dollars this is something over $13 thousand.) GGG-Grandfather James bought this property from a Judith/Judique Dunn.

James Smith is identified as a “Mill Carpenter” and she, Judith/Judique Dunn is a “free Black woman”. Both are of St. George in Grenada. There are some very interesting related facts regarding Judith/Judique Dunn The year is 1818, and a “free Black woman” is recorded as a landowner.

The Indenture, as entered to the Register and dated 13 October 1818 identifies the size and location of the property as 27 feet in the front – the width and 30 feet in depth – the length. The total area is 810 square feet. The lot is “bounded on the North by Gore Street” and “on the West by Halifax Street”. I think I have the location of the property, the following map cut out from Google Maps. (My figure is only a representation.)

Continuing on in the Indenture the description of the property, it borders onto land to the south owned by Robert Napier. And then comes the clincher “and on the East by Lands of Mary Ann Doret”. This is 1818. GGG-Grandparents James Smith and Mary Ann Doret were not married until 11 December 1832.

Taking this into account all of GGG-Grandparents James and Mary Ann’s children, the ones that I can identify, were born between and possibly before 1806 and 1820. Also I have been able to research documentation that both GGG-Grandfather James and GGG-Grandmother Mary Ann were slave owners, per Office of Registry of Colonial Slaves and Slave Compensation Commission: Records; (The National Archives Microfilm Publication T71); Records created and inherited by HM Treasury; The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England.

Family history that I have been privy to when I began my trek into genealogy and the search for my Smith et al ancestry was that GGG-Grandmother Mary Ann (née Doret) Smith was from Martinique and that she was a black female. I was also told that she may have been GGG-Grandfather James Smith’s housekeeper. Well, I am yet still to determine whether she was from Martinique, black, or a housekeeper. I am not discrediting this information it is just that I do not have any viable documentary proof to that effect.

I have located the majority of Birth Registrations for GGG-Grandparents James and Mary Ann (née Doret)Smith’s children: Sophia (1806), Mary Ann (circa 1809), Eley (1812), James Jr (1815 and my GG-Grandfather), Henry (1818), and Thomas (1820). The only reference to a George is in GGG-Grandfather’s last will and testament.

I did find GGG-Grandparents James and Mary Ann (née Doret) Smith’s Marriage Registration dated 11 December 1832. I have found the both GGG-Grandfather James and GGG-Grandmother Mary Ann were property and slave owners, individually and as a married couple.

My current autosomal DNA, the ethnic breakdown by Family Tree DNA, currently shows the following resulting breakdown: European - 78%; Jewish Diaspora - 14%; Middle Eastern - 4%; and African - 4%. 23andMe displays the breakdown as follows: European - 96.3%; Sub-Saharan African - 3.5%; Middle Eastern & North African 0.2%; and Other - < 0.1%. These primary classifications can and are broken down further across a number of classifications.

These are the facts. I am not disputing any of the family histories that I have been provided but a number of logical question do arise when examining the currently available documentation and my DNA percentages.

Logic seems to indicate that GGG-Grandmother Mary Ann Doret was a woman of some means. It also appears that she may have been a free person as she did own property typically reserved for free peoples.

Was she from Martinique, I cannot answer that question but the fact that she appears to have had a French surname, Doret, there may some credence to that possibility. We can only continue to search for a possible birth sometime in the time range of 1770 and 1790.

And then there is the question of the origins of GGG-Grandfather James Smith. The surname Smith does not provide much to go on. There are a number of assumptions but here’s hoping that one day I/we can find an iota of truth to the location of his birth and origin.

Here are the images of the 1818 Indenture, These are copies of the FHL microfilm #1563379 Item 5, Pages 450-2 -

And my transcription -

450

Examd

Entered 13th October 1818

This Indenture made the Twenty Seventh Day of February One thousandEight hundred and Eighteen between Judique Dunn of the Town of Saint George in the Islandof Grenada aforesaid a free Black woman of the one part and James Smith of the Parish of SaintGeorge in the same Island, Mill Carpenter of the other part witne∫seth that the said Judith Dunnin consideration of Five shillings Current money of Grenada to her in had paid by the said JamesSmith before the sealing and delivery of these presents (the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged)hath bargained and sold and by these presents doth bargain and sell unto the said James Smithhis Executors Administrators and A∫signs All that Lot piece of Parcel of Land Situate and being inthe Town of Saint George in the said Island of Grenada containing in front Twenty Seven feetand in depth Thirty feet and bounded on the North by Gore Street on the West by Halifax Street onthe South by lands late of Robert Napier and on the East by Lands of Mary Ann Doret or howsoeverotherwise bounded and being and all erections thereon and all ways waters Liberties Easements andPriviledges thereto belonging or usually enjoyed therewith and the reversion and reversions remainder andremainders Rents, I∫sues and Profits thereof with their and every of their Appurtenances To have andTo hold the said Lot Piece or Parcel of Land and all and singular the Premises above mentioned untothe said James Smith his Executors Administrators and A∫signs from the day next before the Day ofthe date hereof for and during the full end and term of one whole Year thereon next ensuingYielding and paying therefore at the End of the said term One Pepper Corn if lawfully demandedTo the intent and purpose that by virtue of these presents and of the statute for transferring Usesinto Po∫se∫sion the said James Smith may be in the actual Po∫se∫sion of the premises andthereby be enabled to accept and take a Grant and release of the Freehold and Inheritance thereofby Indenture intended to bear date the day next after the Day of the Date of these presents.In Witne∫s whereof the party first above named hath hereto set her hand and Seal the Dayand Year first above written. order(?) Markof + Judith Dunn +Signed Sealed and Delivered }In presence of us } L Vonweiller _ Anthony Lumpres(?)This Indenture made the Twenty Eight Day of February One thousand Eighthundred and Eighteen Between Judique Dunn of the Town of Saint George in the said Island ofGrenada free Black woman of the one part and James Smith of ^the Parish of Saint George in the

same

451

same Island Mill Carpenter of the other part witne∫seth that the said Judique Dunn forand in consideration of the sum of one hundred and Sixty five pounds Current money of Grenadato her in hand well and truly paid at or before the sealing and delivery of these presents by thesaid James Smith (the Receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged) hath bargained granted soldreleased and confirmed and by these presents doth Grant bargain Sell release and confirm untothe said James Smith (In his actual Pro∫se∫sion now being by virtue of a Bargain and Sale to himthereof made by Indenture bearing date the day next before the Day of the date of these presentsand by force of the Statute for the transferring uses into Po∫se∫sion) and to his Heirs and A∫signs Allthat Lot Piece or Parcel of Land Situate and being in the Town of Saint George in the said Islandof Grenada containing in front Twenty Seven feet and in depth Thirty feet bounded on the North byGore Street on the West by Halifax Street on the South by lands lately of Robert Napier and onthe East by Lands of Mary Ann Doret or howsoever otherwise bounded and being and all erectionsthereon and all ways waters Liberties Easements and Priviledges thereto belonging or usually enjoyedtherewith and the Reversion and Reversions Remainder and Remainders Rents I∫sues and Profitsthereof with these and every of these Appurtenances and all the Estate Right Title Interest TrustProperty claim and demand whatsoever both at Law and in Equity of her the said Judique Dunnof in and to the same or any part thereof To have and To hold the said Lot Piece or Parcel of Landand all and singular other the Premises above mentioned with these Appurtenances unto the saidJames Smith his Heirs and A∫signs to his and their only proper use and behoof for Ever. And the saidJudique Dunn for herself her Heirs Executors and Administrators doth hereby covenant and agreeto and with the said James Smith his Heirs and A∫signs in manner following that is to say thatfor and notwithstanding any Act matter or thing done committed or willingly to be hereby grantedand released with the Appurtenances of and in a pure absolute and indefeasible Estate of Inheritancein fee simple with any condition matter or Thing whatsoever to alter change le∫sen defeat or make voidthe same and further that he the said James Smith and his heirs and A∫signs shall at allTimes hereafter peaceably and quietly have po∫se∫s and occupy and enjoy the said Lot Piece orParcel of Land and Premises hereby granted bargained and sold and receive and take the RentsI∫sues and profits thereof to his and their own use without the Let ____ hindrance Interruptionor denial of the said Judique Dunn her I∫sues and A∫signs or any other Person or Personsclaiming under her them or any Predici∫son of her the said Judique Dunn and thatfree and clear and freely and clearly acquitted exonerated and discharged or otherwise by theSaid Judique Dunn and her I∫sues well and sufficiently Saved and ^kept indemnified from andagainst all and all manner of former and other Gifts Grants Bargains Sales Leases Mortgagesforfeitures Rents Dowers Judgements Estates and Incumbrances whatsoever made done or executedby the said Judique Dunn or any of her Predece∫sors. And moreover that she the said JudiqueDunn will at all times hereafter at the request of the said James Smith his Heirs and A∫signsbut at his and their proper Costs make and execute such further conveyances and a∫surancesfor the more perfectly and absolutely granting releasing and a∫suring the said Lot Piece or parcelof Land hereby granted and released and the Premises unto and to the use of the said JamesSmith his Heirs and A∫signs as by the said James Smith his Heirs and A∫signs or his or theirCounsel shall be reasonably devised and required. In Witne∫s whereof the Party first abovenamed hath hereto her her hand and Seal the Day and Year first above written.

order(?) Mark

of + Judith (LS) + Dunn

Signed Sealed and Delivered }In presence of us } L Vonweiller _ Anthony Lumpres(?)Received on the Day of the Date of the within written Indenture of and from the withinnamed James Smith the sum of One hundred and Sixty five pounds Current money of Grenadabeing the full consideration money within mentioned to be by him paid to me I say received £165 by

order(?) Mark

of Judith + Dunn

Witne∫ses L Vonweiller _ Anthony Lumpres(?)

GrenadaBefore the Honorable Richard Ottley Esquire Chief Justice if his Majesty’sSupreme Court of Judicature for the Island of Grenada and its DependenciesPersonally appeared Lawrence Vonweiller of the Town of St. George Writing Clerk one of the subscribingWitne∫s to the annexed Indentures of Lease and Release who being duly sworn on the Holy Evangelistsof Almighty God deposeth and Saith that he was present together with Anthony Lumpres the othersubscribing witne∫s thereto and did see the therein named Judith Dunn Sign by making herordinary Mark not knowing to write opposite to the Seals of the said Indentures of Lease and releaseand also sign by the same mark the Receipt for the consideration money thereof And also saw herSeal acknowledge and deliver the same as and for her free and voluntary Act and Deed AndTestimony thereof this Deponent and the said Anthony Lumpres respectively subscribed their names

as

452

As Witne∫ses thereto at the Request and in the presence of the said Judith Dunn and in thepresence of each other.Sworn to Before me this } Lawrence Vonweillerthirteenth day of October 1881 } Richd Ottley

I had previously worked on the 1818 Indenture in A Genealogy. You can cross-reference my earlier work at:

I am currently working on three Family Trees: Robertson, Groh and McAteer.

I am searching for the origins of my ggg-grandfather James Smith who passed away in Grenada in 1842. This is my Indenture Research Project. Presently the Records that I am working with are dated between 1799 and 1810.

Please Note: All information and data... and work found on this blogsite and website is available for your use. Please do not be a "scab" and steal this information without acknowledgement of source. Also pleased be advised that there could be Copyright issues and legal yada...yadada...das... so be prewarned...